Child poverty has increased as a direct result of the growth of joblessness in the recession. Long-term unemployment in particular has grown dramatically. While at the beginning of the recession the long-term unemployed accounted for 17 percent of those out of work, today they comprise 45 percent of the jobless.

With manufacturing jobs being largely replaced by low-wage service jobs, the report states, It now takes two incomes to maintain the same standard of living that a unionized blue-collar worker with only a high school diploma provided for his family a generation ago.

Children of low-income and poor families see their most basic needs unmet. Parents who are either unemployed or working for poverty wages struggle to provide food, decent housing, medical care and childcare. Developmental tools such as books, toys and enriching activities are often in short supply. The strain of economic uncertainty also leads to increased levels of stress, which can be manifested in depression and anxiety for parents and children alike, as well as increased risk of substance abuse and domestic violence.

Poor children are also more likely to live in families with no health insurance coverage. In 2008, nearly 12 million parents with children under the age of 18 lacked health insurance. This translates into a lack of regular medical care for millions of children.

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